Awaking (The Naturals, #1)

by Freeman, Madeline

  “Which was cool as hell,” Lucas insisted. “I guess you were right about… getting stronger or whatever.”

  “You’re telling me.” Morgan glanced at Lucas. He was sitting very close to her and he didn’t seem to have any plans to change that. Morgan wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but she didn’t move away.

  “You feeling better?”

  Morgan took in a breath and found she was filled with a calm she knew she shouldn’t be feeling. Her heart rate slowed; her breathing went back to normal. Morgan looked at Lucas. It was as if the calm she was feeling was radiating off of him. “I am—what are you doing?”

  “Me?”

  She nodded.

  “Nothing. Just, you know, hoping you’ll calm down.”

  “I think you’re doing it.”

  “What?”

  Morgan shifted a little. “I think you’re calming me down.”

  Lucas patted her arm. “I’m glad.”

  Morgan sighed. Of course, he didn’t understand what she meant, and she wasn’t sure how to explain. So she smiled at him “Thanks.”

  Giving Morgan’s arm a final squeeze, Lucas removed his hand, but he didn’t move away from her. “You are a fascinating person, Morgan Abbey,” he said, taking another sip of her chai. Then he seemed to remember the drink was hers and held it out to her.

  She took it and took a sip before responding. “You’re not so bad yourself, Lucas.”

  Lucas smiled and turned his face away from her, ostensibly to scan the room. But Morgan could see the blush in his cheeks. She smiled and looked down at her chai. She found his blush endearing.

  “Morgan,” Lucas said abruptly.

  When Morgan looked up, she saw that Lucas was looking at her. His light eyes shone with excitement. With mischief.

  “What?”

  “What are you doing? Why do I feel like this?”

  Morgan shook her head. “I have no idea. Believe it or not, in a long line of crazy things that’ve been happening to me in the last week or so, this is the most crazy.”

  Lucas smiled. Morgan noticed his fingers were trembling slightly. “I can’t just sit here,” he said, his words tumbling out slightly quicker than usual. “I feel too… alive. I can’t just sit here at a coffee house.” He stood, holding his hand out for Morgan to take.

  Morgan didn’t hesitate. Now that she was calm, her previous feeling of invincibility was filling her again. She took Lucas’s hand and smiled. “Okay. Let’s go.”

  When they got to the parking lot, Lucas led Morgan to his car. Morgan didn’t think to protest as she slid into the passenger seat.

  “Okay, where to?”

  Morgan didn’t know. She knew she wanted to go somewhere that was bright and bustling with activity. Somewhere that felt alive the way she felt alive. But she had no idea where that place could be.

  Then, by degrees, Morgan became aware of something. She could feel the collective energy of the people in the coffee house. It was mellow, subdued—not at all the way she was feeling. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, pushing further with her mind. Just beyond what she could feel, Morgan thought she could sense impressions—like just being able to make out something on the horizon.

  She opened her eyes, turned to Lucas, and smiled. “I don’t know yet, but I will. Head west.”

  Chapter Nine

  Lucas turned on the radio for something to listen to. Neither of them spoke, save for Morgan’s occasional directions.

  Adrenaline coursed through Morgan’s veins and she knew Lucas was feeling the same thing. Everything seemed clearer, sharper, brighter as they drove. The world seemed to have both sped up and slowed down. It seemed to Morgan that time was slipping by as they sped down the freeway, yet she felt as though she could count individual leaves on trees as they whipped by.

  After about fifteen minutes, they ended up in a few cities over in the trendy downtown area of Oakdale. The streets were bustling with activity, and Morgan smiled.

  Lucas pulled off the main drag and found a parking space in a small lot. When they got out of the car, Lucas immediately walked over to the meter, checking his pockets. “Got any change?” he asked.

  Morgan made a face. “I hate meters. I’m always afraid I’ll put in too little.”

  “How long do you think we’ll be here?”

  Morgan didn’t look up as she dug through her purse. “I don’t know… maybe an hour?” She found her change purse and shook it dubiously. “I don’t know if I’ve got enough—”

  “Uh, Morgan?”

  Morgan looked up at Lucas. He pointed at the meter. She took a few steps closer and saw that the timer on the meter was set to an hour.

  “Cool. That was lucky.”

  Lucas laughed. “No, you don’t get it. It was at zero a second ago.”

  Morgan gave him a confused look. Then she shook her head. “No. You’re not saying that I—”

  “I think you totally just moved the timer with your mind,” Lucas said, sounding gleeful. “Go ahead—do it again.”

  “I don’t know how I even did it a first time,” Morgan muttered. But when she looked at Lucas, his face was so encouraging that she shrugged and turned back to the meter. “Maybe we need… an hour and a half?” She watched the timer expectantly, but nothing happened. And she got mad. “See,” she said, turning to Lucas, “I can’t—”

  But Lucas was grinning. He nodded toward the timer. Morgan looked back at it. It now read an hour and a half.

  She started at it. Unlike the incident with the glass, this act didn’t cause panic to rise. Instead, she grinned and looked up at Lucas. “I totally just moved that.”

  “This is so cool.” He grabbed Morgan’s hand and pulled her toward the downtown area. As they joined the throng of people on the street, he gave Morgan’s hand a squeeze. “It’s like I can… feel everyone’s excitement.” He paused and pointed at a woman with curly hair and a vague smile who stood next to a man. “Except her. She’s pissed at her boyfriend.” He looked at Morgan. “How do I know that?”

  She looked at the woman Lucas indicated and had the distinct impression he was right. “I don’t… I don’t know,” Morgan said honestly.

  “This is awesome,” he continued. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, causing people behind them to grumble angrily and divert around them. He pulled on Morgan’s hand, forcing her to face him. “You’re doing this. You’re letting me do this.”

  Morgan shook her head. “I’m not, though—”

  “But you are, I know it,” he insisted. “You’re… sharing this with me.”

  “I have no idea how, though.”

  He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter how.” Giving her hand another squeeze and starting down the sidewalk again, he said, “I feel… infinite. Like I can do anything.”

  Morgan couldn’t help smiling. “Okay, there, Superman.”

  Lucas seemed too excited to focus; his eyes scanned the crowd as they walked. “Hey, check out that guy’s fedora,” he said, pointing.

  Morgan looked at where he was indicating. A man was sitting at a table outside a restaurant, surrounded by a group of people. He wore a dark gray fedora with a black band. “Stylish.”

  “I love a good fedora.”

  She laughed. “You should ask him where he got it. Maybe he got it somewhere around here.”

  Lucas nodded thoughtfully. “It is a nice fedora.” He gave Morgan’s fingers a final squeeze before releasing her hand. “I’ll be right back,” he said, heading over to fedora guy.

  Morgan watched him go. Fedora guy did not look pleased when Lucas addressed him, but moments later he stood up, handing his hat to Lucas. After the brief exchange, Lucas walked back to where Morgan stood, the fedora atop his head.

  Morgan stared at him incredulously. “What just happened?” she asked.

  Lucas shook his head, shrugging. “I don’t know. At first, I thought the guy was going to hit me or something—when he stood up. But I started thinking, like, dud
e, I just want your fedora. And then he handed it to me.” Lucas’s eyes grew wide. “I think I made him give me his hat.”

  Morgan glanced back at the man’s table. His companions were glaring at Lucas. “And on that note, I think we should get moving,” she said, pulling Lucas by the arm.

  But Lucas wouldn’t be moved. “First—wait.” He turned his head from side to side. “How do I look?”

  Morgan rolled her eyes. “Dead sexy—now let’s get going.” She grabbed his wrist and pulled him down the sidewalk.

  Lucas smiled, allowing himself to be towed away. “That’s what I figured.”

  They walked in silence for a block. When they stopped, waiting for the crosswalk signal, he turned to Morgan. “Do you really think I made that guy give me his hat?”

  Morgan shrugged. “The evidence seems to support it.”

  Lucas considered this. “That seems kinda freaky, though, right?”

  “What d’you mean?”

  “Um, I just made some dude do something. I mean, how would you like it if someone made you do something?”

  “I dunno. I mean, I guess it depends on what it was.”

  “I think I should test it. You know—see if I can make someone else do something.”

  “Fine,” Morgan said. “Try to make me do something.”

  Lucas smiled. Shook his head. Smiled again. “Really?”

  “Go for it.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Just… don’t make me, like, cluck like a chicken or anything ridiculous.”

  Lucas nodded. He positioned himself directly in front of Morgan and looked into her eyes. His eyes narrowed in concentration.

  After a minute, Morgan turned away. “Okay, you’re creeping me out. What’re you trying to make me do, anyway?”

  Lucas shrugged easily. “Doesn’t matter—you didn’t do it.” And without waiting for a response, he started across the street.

  Morgan followed him. “Maybe it won’t work on me. You should try someone else.”

  “Okay,” Lucas said when Morgan caught up to him. He pointed at a woman a few yards ahead of them. “Watch her.”

  Morgan watched dutifully. After a few moments, nothing happened, and Morgan was about to ask Lucas what he was doing when the woman stopped and turned around. She scanned the crowd for a moment before her eyes locked on Lucas.

  “Nice fedora!” she called. Then she turned around and continued on her way.

  Morgan raised an eyebrow at Lucas. “Seriously? Egomaniac…”

  Lucas shrugged. “She’s right, isn’t she?”

  Morgan rolled her eyes, smiling. “You have the ability to make people do things, and the best you can come up with is to have someone compliment your hat?”

  “I didn’t think you were giving it the respect it deserves.”

  “Spoken like a true freak of nature.”

  “Says the founding member of the freaks of nature club.” He proffered his arm to Morgan and, with a smile, she looped her arm through it. Laughing, the two set off down the street.

  Morgan felt invigorated. The energies of the people around her converged on her. As they walked, Morgan found she could force the feelings to the back of her mind where they were barely noticeable, like white noise, or she could bring the feelings forward then attach a certain emotion or frame of mind to a specific person. After a while, Lucas seemed to figure this out, too, because he began pointing at different people, quizzing Morgan about how each one felt.

  After describing the mental state of perhaps the hundredth person, Morgan sighed. “Let’s sit and people watch,.

  “How’s that different from what we’re doing now?”

  “Um, there’s sitting involved?”

  Lucas grinned and scanned the immediate vicinity. “There’s a bench,” he said, pointing.

  “Yeah. A bench full of people.”

  Lucas raised a meaningful eyebrow at her. “Just wait,” he said. Then, with a smile, he turned his attention to the three guys occupying the bench. After a minute or so, they got up and walked away. Lucas waggled his eyebrows at Morgan and led her to the bench.

  Morgan sat and turned her attention to the people streaming past them. Lucas, who seemed to have grown bored of their previous activity of identifying people’s emotions, formulated a new game. He appeared to be seeing how many people he could get to compliment his fedora as they passed.

  After Lucas managed to make a third biker guy compliment the hat, Morgan groaned. “Seriously, enough with the fedora.”

  Lucas turned to her, an exaggerated pout on his face. Then he smiled. “Okay, your turn.”

  “My turn what?”

  “Try to do something.”

  “Like what?” Morgan asked.

  Lucas shrugged. “Dunno. Flex your mystical abilities.”

  Morgan sighed, unsure what to do. But then she grinned wickedly and turned to Lucas. In one fluid motion, his fedora lifted off his head and landed in Morgan’s hands. She grinned and put it on.

  “Hey!” Lucas called once he realized what happened. “No fair!” He reached for it, but Morgan stood and took off down the sidewalk.

  Lucas ran after her, but Morgan was able to keep a few yards ahead of him. She wove around people and between crowds, laughing like a lunatic. Ahead, she spotted a group of people coming toward her, walking like an impenetrable wall, so she cut toward the street to get around them, glancing over her shoulder to see where Lucas was.

  Several things happened in quick succession. Morgan turned forward just in time to see a broad-chested man directly in front of her. She didn’t have time to course-correct and the man, having seen her coming, put his arm out to fend her off. His arm sent Morgan to the curb where she tripped and started falling, face-first, into the street. She saw headlights coming straight for her but didn’t have balance enough to change directions.

  Then she was on the pavement—the sidewalk, not the road. She felt like she’d had the wind knocked out of her and her ribs were sore. She looked around for her rescuer and saw Lucas sprinting to her side. No one else was around her.

  “Morgan, are you okay?” Lucas demanded, squatting beside her. His hands fluttered over her, feathering touches on her cheeks, her shoulders, her arms.

  “What happened?” Morgan asked, swatting at Lucas’s hands. “I thought for sure I was dead.”

  Lucas let his hands come to a rest on Morgan’s forearms. His head shook slowly from side to side.

  “Lucas, what?”

  “I think…” He took in a breath. “I think I pulled you back.”

  Morgan just stared at him for a moment, confused. How could he have pulled her back—he was nowhere near her when she slipped. But then she realized what he meant. The same way she managed to take his hat, he managed to pull her out of harm’s way.

  “Okay,” Morgan said after a minute. “Enough excitement for tonight. We should get going.”

  Lucas nodded absently. He stood and offered Morgan his hands. She took them and he pulled her to her feet. As they started walking, Morgan winced.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Morgan took another step. Winced again. “I think I twisted my ankle—on the curb.”

  Lucas put his arm around her waist and Morgan put her arm over his shoulders, allowing him to help her back to the car. Neither spoke as Lucas drove back to the coffee house. Lucas didn’t turn on the radio.

  Morgan stared out the window but didn’t really see anything. The white light that served as her energy throughout their escapade was still thrumming through her veins, but she pushed it down so she could start processing events.

  Wen insisted she was a Feeler, but his description did not include the ability to move things with her mind. But then why had she been able to do it? And what about Lucas? Was he right about Morgan sharing the ability with him, or… Morgan though of how she met a wall when she tried to read Lucas, as though he possessed the ability to block off his mind.

  Could Lucas be a Natural, too?

  When th
ey got back to the coffee house, Lucas got out of the car to help Morgan out and over to her car. He helped to steady her as she dug through her purse for her keys. After she unlocked the car and opened the door, she leaned against the car and turned to face Lucas.

  “Well,” she said slowly, “thanks for an interesting night.”

  “That’s what I should be saying to you.” Lucas smiled.

  Morgan just looked at him for a moment. She rested her hand on his chest. “Thanks. For, you know, saving my life.”

  Lucas gave a small smile but didn’t say anything. Morgan felt a gentle pressure against her hand as Lucas shifted forward incrementally.

  “I’m still wearing your hat,” Morgan said suddenly. She removed her hand from Lucas’s chest pulled the hat off her head. She set it on him and smiled. “Goodnight, Lucas.”

  Lucas nodded. “Yeah. See you.”

  Morgan got into her car and Lucas closed the door behind her. She waved at him and he made his way back over to his car. She put the keys in the ignition and started her car, but before she could put it into gear, she heard her phone beep. She fished through her purse for a moment before finding the phone. She smiled—a text from Ris: OMG having so much fun.

  Morgan hit reply and started typing when a knock at her window made her jump. She turned, expecting to see Lucas. But it wasn’t Lucas.

  Morgan rolled down her window. “Kellen? Stalker much?”

  Kellen leaned down so his face was even with Morgan’s. He looked pissed. “What were you thinking?”

  Morgan stared at him, confused. “What are you—”

  But before she could ask the question, Kellen was holding his cell phone out to her. On the screen played a video. She watched for a moment, confused. But then she realized what she was looking at. It was the street she and Lucas had been on not half an hour earlier. She watched the crowd and saw a fedora flip in the air. Then there was someone in a fedora running down the sidewalk. It was her. She watched, mesmerized, as she saw herself look back, smiling, to see where Lucas was. And then she saw as she was knocked out of the way by the broad-chested man, saw as she tumbled toward the road, directly into the path of an oncoming Hummer.